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Luthaniel
Luthaniel was the eldest of the four daughters of Ar-Pharazôn by a Numenorean noblewoman. Despising her father, she became one of the Faithful and aided their cause. A dream sent by Yavanna convinced her to search for a new land in the north. Sauron planned to marry her, but she escaped him hours after the marriage. Along with her sisters and a great crowd of women, she took three ships and sailed to the northern island to found a new kingdom. 'History ' When Tar-Palantir died, Ar-Pharazôn married the late King’s daughter against her will, usurping the throne and becoming King in her place. He never lay with her, however, favouring a Numenorean nobleman he had a long association with. She bore four daughters to him, who he raised as his legitimate children. They were all unusually tall, especially for women. The eldest, Luthaniel, was 7 feet tall – not quite as tall as Elendil the Fair, but tall enough and strong enough to attract attention. She entered the military, becoming an able soldier, but refusing to take part in the raids and oppression on the mainland. Luthaniel, however, was not a supporter of her father or of Sauron. She considered Ar-Pharazôn an utterly spineless traitor, doing the bidding of a creature who had shown himself to be completely hostile to all Men. She never bothered to hide her views, or her early conversion in life to the ranks of the Faithful. Only her force of will, military talent, and Ar-Pharazôn’s love for her mother saved her from death in Sauron’s temple, for she intimidated the King. Her sisters agreed with her, but were quieter in their antipathy. Luthaniel, however, was not trusted by the bulk of the Faithful. She was too much like her father: forceful and brash, loudly certain of herself and her views. Furthermore, she was the heir to the throne, and given an amazing amount of leeway for someone who a soldier and supposed to obey her superiors. Some had always wondered if she was secretly a spy for the king. Other suspected that he indulged her in hopes that, when she became Queen, power would go to her head and she would change her ways. Luthaniel was aware of all this, and raged against it. She utterly loathed both her father and Sauron, having personal experience of friends being taken to the temple to be sacrificed to Melkor, or just quietly disappearing. She also thought there was no point in her being quiet about where her true allegiances lay; pretending would just mean taking part in evil acts as part of that pretence. She also hoped that open defiance would win at least a few of the populace to the cause of the Faithful. She knew that, with most people’s dedication to the worship of Morgoth, the destruction of the White Tree, and Ar-Pharazôn’s plans to invade Aman, there was little hope for Númenor. However, she thought that with the probable failure of her father’s invasion, she might be able in the aftermath to convince some people to turn to the Valar again, to help Queen Miriel gain her rightful throne and rule over what was likely to be a realm drastically reduced in power and influence. She had not been told of Amandil’s warning to Elendil and his preparing to leave with the Faithful to Middle-Earth. Things changed when, one night she had a strange dream. She saw a large island in the north of Arda, lush and fertile and teeming with life. Then Yavanna appeared, telling her that this could be a new home for the Faithful, if they did but dare the voyage. She was to rule over this new land, following the old ways of Númenor. When she woke, she told her sisters of her vision. They all agreed that should be acted on, Convincing the rest of the Faithful, however, proved difficult. Many suspected that she was trying to lead the Faithful into a trap. More still thought that the vision could be true, but that Luthaniel was lying about her being its ruler, wanting power for herself. They remembered how many potential queens of Númenor had either turned down the throne or had it taken from them, and wondered if the Valar truly desired any female ruler of Men, whether in their own land or elsewhere. Elendil, however, believed what she was saying, and trusted her. He told her of Amandil’s warning to him and plans to plead with the Valar. He suggested that they each continue with their plans; he would encourage people to go with her if they liked the idea, and he would take the rest to Middle-Earth. Having the Faithful reside in more than one place would increase their chances of survival. She agreed to this, although she guessed that few would be coming with her. Still, she owned three ships, and would do her best to fill them. In the end, it was mostly women who answered her call. They were unhappy that the idea of a female ruler was being dismissed. Furthermore, the idea of an island kingdom, away from potential enemies and more easily defendable, appealed to them. Some also had personal experience of Luthaniel, or had talked to her sisters, and trusted her; they convinced others that she was faithful and would be a good leader. The few men who decided to come were mostly military who had served under her and knew her. Sauron, however, though not knowing of Luthaniel’s dream, saw Ar-Pharazôn’s daughters as a loose end in his schemes. He thought they might convince the king to end his invasion plans; and while he considered it unlikely, Sauron decided to take action. He convinced the King to marry Luthaniel to him and her three sisters to his most senior priests, thus gaining power over them. Luthaniel was furious, and not just because the idea repulsed her. Her ships were nearly ready to sail, and it would make leaving secretly nearly impossible. She might have to stay behind and let them sail without her. She was prepared to do that if it meant her people and her sisters got away, but she suspected Ar-Pharazôn would send his forces after them at once. Furthermore, Sauron might use his new power to have her killed in a way that would look like an accident. She discussed it with Elendil, and both agreed that a quiet departure would be impossible. Elendil reminded her that she was supposed to be Queen of the new land, and said that speed would have to replace secrecy. Luthaniel told her father she would marry Sauron, but only to secure the stability of the state, not out of any personal liking or approval. In private, she drew up plans to have two of her ships go on to Romenna, and have her people board them there. She would go through with the wedding, and escape in a small ship in the depths of the night, dealing with Sauron first. The wedding day was the worst day of her life, but she managed to deal with it without letting her revulsion towards the Maia show. In the early hours of the morning, they retired to their marriage bed. Under her pillow was a long, slim knife. She clapped a hand over Sauron’s mouth, shoved him down on the bed, and buried it into his heart. She kept stabbing until he was dead. She then washed, changed into the clothes of a guardsman, and walked past the two guards outside her door, who were of the Faithful. Going down to the port, she boarded the ship waiting for her, which departed the harbour to join up with her own ship. They then took it to Romenna, Luthaniel hoping that the Valar would delay discovery of the body until they could reach harbour and have her people board her ships. It seemed they were with her, as she strong winds ensured she reached Romenna swiftly; she embarked her Faithful on her ships, and sailed north without pursuit. In Númenor, Sauron’s body was not discovered until late the following morning, as no-one dared to disturb the newly married couple. Ar-Pharazôn was left paralysed by the discovery, unable to issue orders as to what to do. Sauron’s chief priests eventually took charge, but no-one was able to work out what had happened. It was only until the sudden reappearance of Sauron a few days later that some sort of order was re-established. The death of his body had not been traumatic enough to prevent him from creating a new one fairly quickly. He told Ar-Pharazôn what had happened, berated him for allowing this to happen, and told him she was conspiring against him and would take his crown unless she was caught. Ar-Pharazôn was finally roused to action, and had the island searched for Luthaniel and her sisters. No trace of them was found. Infuriated, he had all mention of them struck from the records of Númenor. After many months sailing north, Luthaniel’s ships finally came upon the island they searched for. As they approached its shores, they could see a great crowd of men waiting for them. While it did not appear to be an army, Luthaniel was wary. She took a small group ashore to talk to the crowd. They revealed to be incarnate spirits of the earth, Maia and Spirits of Arda that Yavanna had told to take this form to make up for the lack of men in Luthaniel’s ranks. Together they were to become the new population of the island. Calling the new land Luthany, Queen Luthaniel began to make settlements. She knew that it would be a very long time before they would begin to match the splendour of their old home, and they would be living in squalor until then, but she and her subjects were determined. By the time she chose to die at the age of 202, they had made many towns and a capital city – modest, but serviceable. Eventually, ships from Luthany would visit Gondor in the Third Age, continuing into the Fourth Age and beyond. Category:Characters Category:Articles by Linfaren Category:Númenóreans Category:Females Category:Faithful Númenóreans